City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

Luke 1:11-18 ESV

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶² And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. ⁶⁴ And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Luke 1:57-66 ESV

Reflection

When I read this section of the story of the birth of John the Baptist, I have several questions swirling around in my head:

• Why did they make signs to Zechariah?  I thought he only lost the ability to speak.  Was he deaf too?
• What was John like as a child?
  • John you only have a camel hair coat and a belt, and you can’t keep your room clean?
  • John, you need to eat all your vegetables.  No thanks mom, I just had some crickets.
• What’s up with the 8^th day?

To these questions, I offer no answers.  However, I think I have something that might encourage you.  The purpose of this story is to show you the tender mercy of God, and as such, God has a very particular way that he wants things done.  So, when we see things in the story that appear to be a bit strange, hold on to them.  The strange things are probably signs that God is changing the flow of life.  This is a time when old traditions are turned over, like money changer tables in the temple.

The coming of the Lord is a time in which God intends to have it out with the going culture.  So fundamental things are being addressed so that society can be redeemed.  In the story “Fiddler on the Roof” the society was built upon tradition.  While that tradition was originally built on wisdom, by the time of the story only tradition remained.  The reasons for the tradition had fallen away long ago.  So, when the world started to change, the culture could not adapt to survive.  Modern life destroyed that group’s ability to identify as a people. 

In our story today, God decides that John will come and be a messenger of the coming of Jesus, and when the message is first brought to a priest, a very good priest, the priest fails to understand it and is silenced for 9 months.  Even though an angel from God literally shows up and explains it to him, Zacharias looks for additional confirmation to know that what he has heard is true.

When John is born, their friends and leaders are not ready for it.  They expect the baby to be named after a relative.  They were like George Foreman.  He has 12 children: five sons and seven daughters.  He named all five sons George Edward Foreman because he wanted them all to have something in common:

• George Jr.
• George III (“Monk”)
• George IV (“Big Wheel”)
• George V (“Red”)
• George VI (“Little Joey”)

There is much to say for doing things to hold your family together, but I think George might have over done it a bit here.  Now, if you imagine that the last one is named “John” instead of “George”.  He might feel a bit like an outsider, even though his family would try to show him otherwise.  He would certainly think of himself as a bit different, like what was expected of him would be completely different from his brothers.

John is different.  He is a message, and only a message.  He does not come doing great miracles.  He does not lead an army, nor does he give clever speeches.  He preaches the undeniable message: Repent for the kingdom of God is coming.  In this does John live up to his name John, which means “Yahweh is gracious.”

Application

The story of the coming of Jesus Christ begins with a bang.  Angels are coming, babies are being born and a message is being sent.  John represents the message before the message; get ready, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Recognize the time.  Open your eyes and prepare your hearts.  This is the good news of the coming of Christ and it is a good thing.  Let all else fall away.  You do not need it.

Prayer

Open my heart, Oh Lord.  Teach me to trust You in all things.  Whether by angel or child, teach me to listen to Your word.  Teach me to want the right things. And if I struggle with letting go, please be patient and give me the strength to overcome.  In all things I look to You Lord.  With an open heart, I trust in You always, amen.